Nervous Morning SmileFor now we'll just say I had the time of my life.
Racer Ready
Racer Ready 3-2-1- GO.
Those were the words I heard just before it was my turn to race when I was a ski racer. It felt like eternity.
In the amount of time my heart would skip several beats. I would feel nauseated and sick until I broke the wand. Then I became exhilarated. My race then would last about 1 minute.
Now imagine my feelings before starting a race that on a good day would last around 12 hours and span 140.6 miles. ......I am a nervous, excited, tornado whirling around everywhere. My apologies to everyone I have encountered over the past few days. I am not thinking so clear. In fact I have been so scattered in my thinking that I have 5 blogs in the draft folder that I just can't finish.
Does this mean I am not ready for Ironman?
NO
Does this mean two Ironman's in one year is too much for me?
NO
Does this mean I am going to go slow?
NO
(well depends on who's standards)
Does this mean I have a disorder?
No comment
(well probably but doesn't everybody)
Am I going to have fun?
Oh Yeah
I renewed my CPR today. Of course I got 100% on the test and was the first one done ;)
CPR is very basic. It's about the ABC's. I am amending my race plan to be that simple
A)Attitude (have a good one)
B) Breathe ( I have been known to screw this up:)
C) C myself finishing strong
Those were the words I heard just before it was my turn to race when I was a ski racer. It felt like eternity.
In the amount of time my heart would skip several beats. I would feel nauseated and sick until I broke the wand. Then I became exhilarated. My race then would last about 1 minute.
Now imagine my feelings before starting a race that on a good day would last around 12 hours and span 140.6 miles. ......I am a nervous, excited, tornado whirling around everywhere. My apologies to everyone I have encountered over the past few days. I am not thinking so clear. In fact I have been so scattered in my thinking that I have 5 blogs in the draft folder that I just can't finish.
Does this mean I am not ready for Ironman?
NO
Does this mean two Ironman's in one year is too much for me?
NO
Does this mean I am going to go slow?
NO
(well depends on who's standards)
Does this mean I have a disorder?
No comment
(well probably but doesn't everybody)
Am I going to have fun?
Oh Yeah
I renewed my CPR today. Of course I got 100% on the test and was the first one done ;)
CPR is very basic. It's about the ABC's. I am amending my race plan to be that simple
A)Attitude (have a good one)
B) Breathe ( I have been known to screw this up:)
C) C myself finishing strong
Veterans Day
On Veterans Day, as a service to the veterans there were no surgeries and Tim got the day off. We started the day by attending masters. It was great except Coach Sickie wasn't there:(
No telling what would happen if coach Sickie was at masters. Last time Tim and I were at swim together Sickie celebrated our marriage by making us hold hands swimming a 100. He then commented I needed to pull my own weight. Insightful. I think I got water up my nose I was laughing so hard.
Th
is is what you win
After masters we enjoyed our favorite meal, second breakfast....otherwise known as brunch but we prefer to call it second breakfast in honor of the hobbits. Tim's the breakfast chef unless it's some sort of oatmeal or baked goods. I'm not to creative early in the morning and typically choose sleep over food prep. Tim made my new favorite breakfast. Soft boiled eggs on homemade toast. Any other bread would be blah.... but Tim's bread is the best. (I am not biased)
I washed the dishes and filled water bottles (see I pull my weight) as Tim aired up our bike tires. Soon we were off on a ride. It was windy heading up the coast and I liked that. I have been trying to catch wind gusts to prepare for IMAZ but the summer wind was nothing like the gusts January, Febuary, and March. I guess that's one of those race day variables I can deal with but I can not control. I wanted to ride in front to deal with more wind but Tim didn't think his wife should ever have to pull. He said it was unshivalrous. I gave in and let him pull but forced him to go at threshold since I was supposed to go hard for the middle 20 miles of my ride. We didn't really bring much nutrition except two Clif fruit twists and one gel (240 cal/2 people/total). We weren't going that far and had a big breakfast. On the return trip in Solana Beach I started to get a little hungry. Tim said he was really hungry. I gave Tim the gel and made him eat a fruit twist. As we headed up Torrey Pines I started to get really hungry. Tim full on bonked. He was able to ride just fine but I think his senses were impaired and he kept apologizing for bonking. Of course, I used this opportunity to manipulate Tim into agreeing to all sorts of things he may not have agreed to other wise:)
When we got home Tim said he was done.....I scampered off for a short run in my new knee high compression socks. I had a hard time catching my breath on the run. I think it was because in addition to the knee high socks I was wearing a baggy long sleeve t-shirt, a Garmin, an I-pod and pink running shorts. This was topped off by my head lamp I insist on wearing around my waist as it pulls my hair. I ran as fast as possible for fear a co worker might say "umm I saw you running the other day" I think that is why I couldn't catch my breath.
I arrived home to overhear Tim on the phone complaining. He said he was manipulated and abused, not by his residency program but his wife. Then he started complaining about the squash again. "Fine" I said that we were switching from squash to beets. Triathletes are always beleiving in miralce foods. I couldn't afford the goji berries at Whole Foods so I got beets instead. I read on the Whole Foods website that beets betaine decrease inflammation so I figured from now until 3 weeks post Ironman we should consume them. I don't think Tim believed me yet... so here you go baby doll. I know you went to med school but I read the Whole Foods web site so I must be right.
People whose diets supplied the highest average intake of choline (found in egg yolk and soybeans), and its metabolite betaine (found naturally in vegetables such as beets and spinach), have levels of inflammatory markers at lst 20% lower than subjects with the lowest average intakes, report Greek researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Detopoulou P, Panagiotakos DB, et al.)
No telling what would happen if coach Sickie was at masters. Last time Tim and I were at swim together Sickie celebrated our marriage by making us hold hands swimming a 100. He then commented I needed to pull my own weight. Insightful. I think I got water up my nose I was laughing so hard.
This is what you win if you are swimmer of the week....
A bobble head of coach Sickie.
It is a coveted bobble head.
After masters we enjoyed our favorite meal, second breakfast....otherwise known as brunch but we prefer to call it second breakfast in honor of the hobbits. Tim's the breakfast chef unless it's some sort of oatmeal or baked goods. I'm not to creative early in the morning and typically choose sleep over food prep. Tim made my new favorite breakfast. Soft boiled eggs on homemade toast. Any other bread would be blah.... but Tim's bread is the best. (I am not biased)
I washed the dishes and filled water bottles (see I pull my weight) as Tim aired up our bike tires. Soon we were off on a ride. It was windy heading up the coast and I liked that. I have been trying to catch wind gusts to prepare for IMAZ but the summer wind was nothing like the gusts January, Febuary, and March. I guess that's one of those race day variables I can deal with but I can not control. I wanted to ride in front to deal with more wind but Tim didn't think his wife should ever have to pull. He said it was unshivalrous. I gave in and let him pull but forced him to go at threshold since I was supposed to go hard for the middle 20 miles of my ride. We didn't really bring much nutrition except two Clif fruit twists and one gel (240 cal/2 people/total). We weren't going that far and had a big breakfast. On the return trip in Solana Beach I started to get a little hungry. Tim said he was really hungry. I gave Tim the gel and made him eat a fruit twist. As we headed up Torrey Pines I started to get really hungry. Tim full on bonked. He was able to ride just fine but I think his senses were impaired and he kept apologizing for bonking. Of course, I used this opportunity to manipulate Tim into agreeing to all sorts of things he may not have agreed to other wise:)
When we got home Tim said he was done.....I scampered off for a short run in my new knee high compression socks. I had a hard time catching my breath on the run. I think it was because in addition to the knee high socks I was wearing a baggy long sleeve t-shirt, a Garmin, an I-pod and pink running shorts. This was topped off by my head lamp I insist on wearing around my waist as it pulls my hair. I ran as fast as possible for fear a co worker might say "umm I saw you running the other day" I think that is why I couldn't catch my breath.
I arrived home to overhear Tim on the phone complaining. He said he was manipulated and abused, not by his residency program but his wife. Then he started complaining about the squash again. "Fine" I said that we were switching from squash to beets. Triathletes are always beleiving in miralce foods. I couldn't afford the goji berries at Whole Foods so I got beets instead. I read on the Whole Foods website that beets betaine decrease inflammation so I figured from now until 3 weeks post Ironman we should consume them. I don't think Tim believed me yet... so here you go baby doll. I know you went to med school but I read the Whole Foods web site so I must be right.
People whose diets supplied the highest average intake of choline (found in egg yolk and soybeans), and its metabolite betaine (found naturally in vegetables such as beets and spinach), have levels of inflammatory markers at lst 20% lower than subjects with the lowest average intakes, report Greek researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Detopoulou P, Panagiotakos DB, et al.)
Recently my parents adopted a one year old black lab. His name is Sparky and he writes me letters via e-mail. He must be a really smart dog. He's going to be a great training partner next time I visit my parents. Until I arrive he is working on his endurance by running and building his core strength by jumping in piles of leaves. He does interval training by chasing birds, squirrels, and chipmunks.
Sparky is like a lot of triathletes. He has trouble with his nutrition. Since joining my parents in the U.P. his training has caused him to loose weight. After running all day he collapses onto his rug and goes straight to bed. Sometimes he sleeps for hours and doesn't want to get up. Sparky told me I shouldn't complain about the Gatorade served on the course. Last week, when Sparky was on his long run he needed nutrition so he ate what he could find in the woods. He said I only thought I knew what tummy troubles were.
I'm hoping Sparky starts his own blog soon.
Race Report: World's 70.3
So the one thing better than my own race report is reporting somebody elses....
When I talk to cohorts who are non athletes they make comments at like I'm too old to run or your knees are going to give out and you are going to be a cripple. All of those people need to meet Bruce.
Trumpet Fan Fare and Drum Role Please
My Father in Law, Bruce PR'd on Saturday in Clearwater, Florida at the 2008, 70.3 World Championships.
click here for some of the action
He swam 1.2 miles with alligators and rafts from Cuba. Then he biked 56 miles while dodging Florida's infamous blue haired ladies driving enormous Cadillacs. Finally he ran 13.1 miles in the staggering Florida sun. He also ran the entire distance on concrete surfaces without the use of performance enhancing knee high socks. He managed to do all of this in a time of 4 hours 51 minutes and he finished ninth in his age IN THE WORLD.
Bruce is currently accepting applications from sponsors. However as his self appointed agent I can say he is very exclusive and won't associate his name with just anything. Interested parties should respond to this blog.
Bruce is currently relaxing and recovering by eating his wife Cindy's apple pies and by running the Pleasanton Ridge three times daily, once with each of his dogs Elle, Polly, and Riley.
Married Life
Now that Tim and I our settling into married life we are discovering we have some differences. Yes, we have some huge fundamental differences. Like our appreciation of things like squash. Today, after my 9 million mile bike ride I went marketing. I went to the produce market and then to Costco. Speaking of which ....I am so glad I became a triathlete because my arms are much stronger pushing a Costco cart around these days.
After that I headed home to unload my loot of groceries and manage my produce. You know wash and prepare all the veggies so they don't go to waste because you were too lazy to clean them.
I also found time to prepare some molasses cookies and the chocolate cherry ones I made yesterday seemed to be disappearing at a very fast pace. Hmmm....maybe we have a mouse.
There must be a mouse in the house
Anyway when I started working on the molasses because I knew they would be good for future ride and for recovery after our evening run. I am so good too my husband that I typically save my evening run until he gets home. I know he really loves to run after a long day of work. Sometimes he apologizes for being so late and offers not to make me run, but I always tell him it's no problem. Sometimes I even get his head lamp out for him to show him how willing I am to support his running.
Tim came in the door and that was when I discovered our fundamental differences. His face looked crest fallen and he said" more squash?" Then he saw the cookies and started eating them. Hot, right from the cookie sheet. .....They didn't even make it to the cooling rack. Much less the intended spot in the freezer so I could bring them on long bike rides. Side note: Screw power bars, clif bars, carbo pro , and shot blocks. I'm over it. After November 23. I refuse to consume any form of maltodextrin until April. He gobbled up 5 or 6 of the freshly baked cookies and then said he had a few things to do before running. I thought it to was to study for the Ortho in training exam. I encouraged him to do so but later found out he was searching Craig's list and allowing the cookies to digest. I started preparing dinner so we could eat in the magical 30-60 minutes after training and optimally recover from our whopping 40 minute run.
He came out and looked at the dinner and again looked crest fallen. "That's a lot of food" he said mournfully. I could only think A) You are not a 115 pound female and B) I thought you were hungry...eating 5 cookies? I was extremely perplexed by this because when we first started dating Tim had issues with my idea of dinner being oatmeal, Kashi cereal and yogurt, or best yet a Trader Joe's soy corn dog. I couldn't figure out what exactly was the problem. Then I got it, eating dinner would keep him from eating as many cookies.
Good Luck
Good Luck
This weekend is the 70.3 (or half Iron man) World Championships. I am proud to say that last year my Father - in - law was the 11 th faster person in his age:) That's fast.
Sometimes when I talk about Iron man with non triathletes they ask how I ever got the idea to do an Iron man. That would have to be where my father in law Bruce comes in. A few years when I thought the swim split in a sprint was a big deal. (Like worth hyper ventilating over) Bruce was chucking out full IM finishes like a batches of cookies for a bake sale. He made it seem so easy. One year he did Oceanside 70.3 in April and Wildflower in May. In June he did the Sierra Century with a friend who had never done it. That evening he flew down to San Diego to help Tim and I in the marathon we failed to train for. Not help as in stand on the side walk and cheer....help as in pace our behinds to the finish and carry us in if needed. A couple hours later he flew back up north ( and probably did a recovery swim). I thought Bruce would be a little disappointed in our times as at least mine didn't reflect having trained. Believe a positive split is very different than having a positive attitude. He wasn't though. I could tell he was so genuinly happy we were sharing in the fun of the sports he loved. Later that month he did IM CDA. Then he did the Death Ride with Tim and I. After that he did the Vine man Half and IM Canada. Missing a Kona spot by one minute. He made it seem sooooo easy. Never complaining of being sore, tired, or even hungry. Bruce encouraged Tim and I to do these events and recommended books on training and some of Hammer nutrition's products (which Tim and I swiped when Bruce's head was turned). After doing one Iron man I realized how really tough it is and how much a big event takes out of you. Despite run skirts being popular, compared to Bruce, I really look like I am wearing a skirt. If things get a little hard for me at AZ I'll have to remember that somebody I am related to did a marathon, a century, 3 halves, 2 fulls in one season.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Good luck and go fast, and have a good time.
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